


Speak Gently

by BoxOnTheNile



Series: Waiting; Wondering; Fearing [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Australian World Building, How did I forget, I refuse to let these two be Mad Max knockoffs, Junkrat has two moms, M/M, Maori Mako, Post-Recall, Shout out to the OWG for dealing with me, There's so much headcanon in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-09-01 06:59:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8614159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoxOnTheNile/pseuds/BoxOnTheNile
Summary: Talon has turned it's eyes to the Australian Outback and the 'treasure' hidden there, and there's only two people capable of getting Overwatch there first.The shadow of the Omnium is long, and Overwatch is about to see it first hand.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Speak gently! -- 't is a little thing  
> Dropped in the heart's deep well;  
> The good, the joy, which it may bring,  
> Eternity shall tell.
> 
> by David Bates

It had started so simply, just a meeting discussing recent Talon intel.

Winston gestured to the screen wearily. “Talon seems to be investigating rumors that the Australian God program could still be functional. I've been monitoring those claims, but they mostly come from Junkers suffering radiation sickness, so I never gave them much merit.”

“‘Cause we're all crackers, right,” Junkrat muttered bitterly. Roadhog set one enormous hand across his broad shoulders. Winston, to his credit, had the decency to look a little ashamed. 

“I suppose I shouldn't judge so quickly, especially if Talon is putting stock in these rumors. Go on, Junkrat, Roadhog.”

Under Roadhog’s hand, Junkrat jittered, muscles tensing and jumping and twitching. “Somethin’s makin’ Oms go red-eye. And the mines move together. And-” He hunched and clammed up, trying to turn his tall, lanky frame into something unnoticed. Roadhog could almost hear his mantra: _’be still, be silent, be safe’_. Junkrat had told exactly two others what he found in the depths of the Omnium. One was Mako. The other turned most of Australia against Junkrat before Roadhog got his hook in her.

“‘Rat,” Roadhog rumbled. It was a promise to protect him, just as he had for years already. 

“It ain't a ‘rumor’ I found in that tunnel.”

“You found the housing for the Australian God program?” Soldier 76 hissed from across the briefing table. “Was it active? Why didn't you destroy it?”

“‘Cause I woulda brought the whole fuckin’ Omnium down on me head!” Junkrat screeched back. He shot to his feet, throwing Roadhog’s hand from his back. “There was kids in that Omnium, huntin’ for scrap like the rest of us! I told one sorry sheila and had every bleeding Enforcer tryin’ ta kill me by morning. If I could ‘ave, I'd’ve blown the whole place to the back of beyond!”

He was _shaking_ , all anger and learned fear and hopelessness, fists clenched tight. 

“C’mon, let's all settle on down,” McCree chuckled nervously. “‘Rat, why don't you step out and take a breather. We'll can figure out what we're gonna do and run it past ya later.”

Junkrat glared for a few heartbeats before stomping off, snapping “Roadie” as he went. Roadhog pushed back to follow his boss through the halls of the base and out into the Spanish sunshine. Junkrat tipped his head back and screamed, a wordless cry of frustration. 

“Better?” Mako asked. He was long used to his partner's catharsis.

“They don't get it. They don't know how much I wish I'd fucking burned the place to the ground, but… I knew the people in there. A bunch a’ kids an’ a mum with a baby on ‘er back an’... Fuck!”

“I know, Jamie.” Mako stepped to his side, curled large fingers around Jamison’s bony hand. He'd heard this over and over the past few years. Jamie held himself responsible for nearly every death by mines or Oms or even dehydration from the moment he left the God program untouched. 

“I coulda ended it, Roadie. I was willing ta, but one of the fuckin’ kids gave me a rock she found that morning and I couldn't- I couldn't hurt her.”

“I know,” Mako said again. Jamie still had that rock- a smooth pinkish thing that would have fit neatly in a child’s palm. It was sitting on the desk in their room.

“Are they gonna make us go back?” Jamie’s voice was soft and full of guilt. 

“I think so.” Mako settled on the sun-soaked pavement. Jamie tucked into his side, wrapping prosthetic fingers around Mako’s belt. “I'm still gonna look out for you.”

“‘Cause ya love me.” The words were mostly a reminder, so Mako didn’t answer, just hummed. They were both silent for a moment, before, “Roadie?”

“Yeah?”

“We have t’go with ‘em. Sorry fucks’ll probably die if we don't. They might not learn fast enough. Then I can fix it, right? Blow the cunting Omnium sky high.” 

Mako hummed again, and Jamie pressed closer, as though trying to climb inside him and curl up safe behind his ribs. If he could, Mako would let him.

When did he get so stupid for the little ‘Rat?

He knew the answer to that- when Jamie sacrificed his leg to stop a toddler from chasing the mines. He'd been bleeding, _dying_ , and asked only about the “little tyke.” 

For all the Outback’s forced cruelty, Jamison Fawkes had good in him, and Mako was selfish enough to keep it for himself. 

“Hey, Junkrat, Roadhog.” Lúcio was holding the door into the base, one side of his mouth quirked into a forced smile. “We, uh, we're gonna try to beat Talon to the Australian Omnium. We need you. If anyone can get us there first, it's you two, ya dig?”

“Yeah, just a mo’,” Junkrat said. Lúcio ducked back inside, seemingly understanding of their need for a moment, and Junkrat was Jamie again for just a second. He shifted suddenly into Mako’s lap and grabbed his face, dragging the bigger man down for a kiss. “It'll be a while ‘fore I see yer face again. Yer not Mako with the mask.”

“Always Mako for you.” But Jamie wasn't wrong.

Mako and Jamie wouldn't be going back to Australia. But Junkrat and Roadhog were born in blood and fire, capable of anything in the name of survival.

And you didn't live near the Omnium. You survived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna... it's gonna be good. I'm fucking excited. There's so much world building that went into this, holy shit.
> 
> I know this first part is short, but it's just a prologue to get us started.
> 
> Buckle up boys, girls, and those unconcerned with the concept of a gender binary, this is gonna be a ride.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't think of any content warnings so far, but please let me know if I've missed something.
> 
> Shout out to the Overwatch Writer's Guild discord for dealing with my constant yelling about Junkers.
> 
> Edit 12/29/16: fixed the placement of the accent mark in Lúcio's name

The flight from Gibraltar to Australia was quiet, and Mako had too much time to think. Jamie was bent over a map, marking settlements and supply caches to the best of his memory- surprisingly accurate. 

“Roadie, where was the minefield last you remember, the last bit of the coast trip is-” Jamison made a whooshing noise.

“You were fevered and sick, ‘m not surprised.” Mako delicately took the pencil from him and placed a mark. “I know they don't move closer to the coast than that.” Another mark. “There's a cache here, mostly medical supplies, where we waited for you to ride out a round of radiation sickness. The Orca should be safe there.” 

Lúcio glanced up from where he was adjusting his Sonic Amplifier. “I thought the coast was still pretty okay. I mean, Sydney contacted me about a concert. Why can't we set down there? Or even closer to the Omnium?”

“Cities don't like us Junkers,” Jamie said, squinting at the map. He held his hand out for the pencil, and Mako gave it back. “Can't let the fuckin’ crazy cunts from the Outback inta their sparklin’ streets.” He drew a square on the map. “Omnium’s ‘bout there. Closer ya get ta it, the more tech starts messin’ up.” He waved his metal hand at Zenyatta and Genji. “The Om ‘n the cyborg oughta be fine with Sym’s shieldin’, but the ship’ll lose navigation ‘n propulsion ‘fore we get too close.”

“Then we’re stranded,” Mako added, reaching to take the pencil again. Jamie passed it over. Mako sketched a large, wobbly circle around the marker for the Omnium. “That's Junker territory. It's about two days from our drop off to the border, and another day or two to the Omnium itself, if nothing goes wrong.”

“Things will go wrong,” Jamie assured them. 

Mako sighed, because Jamison was probably right. “Song.” He held the map out to the young Korean girl and nodded towards the Orca’s cockpit, where Amari- the younger one- was flying the dropship.

With Amari using the map, it wasn't long before they'd found a suitable spot for landing - large enough to fit the Orca, but with enough cover to help conceal the transport. A cave mouth opened in the cliffs nearby, and Junkrat abandoned to others unloading supplies to start opening already-stashed crates from two years ago, scrambling atop the boxes. Roadhog side-eyed him through his mask, waiting for him to tip over precariously balanced boxes. 

He took several steps forward- Roadhog had a feeling- and caught a box as Junkrat shoved it off the top of the stacks. There was a faded logo, but the shape was enough tell Roadhog what the box held. He pried off the top and sure enough, dozens of blister packs of anti-rad tabs stared up at him. While Lucio’s Sound Amplifier had been modified to combat the effects of radiation, they couldn't expect to be in its radius constantly, and it would likely short out closer to the Omnium anyway. The tiny blue pills in Roadhog’s arms were priceless.

If he remembered correctly, the group he'd… liberated the cache from had been charging exorbitant fees. If one couldn't pay, they were other ways to get the tabs. While clearing out the cave, one helpful woman had castrated a trader. Roadhog had let her be, and sent her off with several crates of pills. There was still more than enough stashed for his needs at the time. 

And, it seemed, more than enough for now. 

“Hog!” Junkrat yelped as his pegleg slipped while climbing down. Roadhog caught him neatly in his other arm. ‘Rat giggled and pressed a kiss to the snout of Roadhog’s mask. 

Once firmly on his own two feet, Junkrat snatched a blister pack from the box and popped a pill free, tossing it into his mouth and swallowing it dry. 

“Whoa whoa whoa, what was that?” Lúcio nearly yelped, genuine concern coloring his tone. “Junkrat, you can't just put pills in your mouth, you could-”

“Anti radiation biotic tabs,” Roadhog grunted, stuffing a few packets into his pockets. “This used to be a trader's den.”

“But those are humanitarian aid, they're supposed to be just handed out!” Lúcio protested. 

“They were, at first,” Junkrat told him, filling his own pockets. “Then someone realized he could make a profit.” 

“Is there someone we could give these to that will get them where they're needed?” Amari stepped into the space next to Roadhog and peered into the box. “I am assuming we will need the contents of this crate, but there are dozens here that look the same.”

“The Springs?” Junkrat mused, glancing questioningly at Roadhog. “It's the only place ‘round here with groundwater and a filtration system, they can send these out with the water tanks. We can probably escort one t’ Red Cliffs and cross into Junker territory there.”

Roadhog stared at him through the mask. “Y’sure you wanna go t’ Red Cliffs?”

“She's dead, Hog,” he snapped bitterly, shoulders tensing as his hands curled into fists. Roadhog didn't blame him: he'd trusted her, and she turned the whole Outback against him. Well, enough it hardly mattered, in the end. 

An incorporeal golden orb appeared at Junkrat’s shoulder, and he relaxed as tension bled out of him. He nodded his thanks to the monk behind him.

“Someone there you don't wanna see?” McCree finished checking to old gas-fueled truck they'd brought from Gibraltar, one of the few vehicles left that operated in the radiation. He clasped Junkrat’s other shoulder. “We can find a different route.”

“Nah, mate, may as well get it over with. Will all those crates fit next to our supplies?”

“Should. Between Roadhog’s bike and Hana’s mech, we all have a way to travel, so it's not like anyone's sittin’ back there.” He lit a cigarette. “Feel free to load ‘em up.”

Hana fiddled with the wristband that connected her to the Korean Army’s orbital dropships. “Radiation is already scrambling the signal a bit, so I've got a five meter margin for error. It'll probably get worse the closer to the Omnium we get.”

Amari cleared her throat to gain attention, shifting the Raptora helmet more firmly under her arm. “Let's go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I have a bit to put here. 
> 
> I'm not sure how big of a role the mines will end up playing, but random info is that _they move_. On the discord and in my world building notes, I refer to them as spider mines.
> 
> The idea of Korean orbital dropships was pulled from a reddit thread. Not sure if it's canon. I'll source as soon as I hunt down the original thread instead of the screenshot given to me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor warning for drug misuse. It's a throw away line, and doesn't actually happen in the present, but it is referenced. 
> 
> Let me know if anyone feels I need to actually add it to the tags instead of just warning here.

The Springs was one of the nicer settlements of the Outback, due to the constant traffic for safe water and by virtue of being the only settlement the coastal city of Perth would talk to. There was electricity in most homes, though most of the solar array was dedicated to powering the water filters. A river several kilometers away seeped into the ground and ran down to the aquifer beneath the town. The radiation the soil didn't catch was cleaned out by the enormous filtration system in the center of the settlement. It wasn’t the only settlement with an aquifer, but the other major water source, Hammerpool, was in Junker territory, and far worse off. Even Junkers would rather get water from The Springs. 

 

The thing was, as a central hub for the Outback, there were strict safety rules in place for even getting near The Springs. 

 

“The Oms stay out.” The Enforcer stood his ground as Amari glared. “We can't risk ‘em running hot. We're at the edge of the radiation, we aren't boosting our exposure.” He looked to Roadhog. “You were an Enforcer once, you know can't budge on this.”

 

“Amari,” Roadhog said. “It's a safety measure. Shimada and the monk can't go in.” 

 

The woman cursed in Arabic. She turned neatly on her heel- very military- and returned to the group. “Roadhog, I don’t want to leave then unprotected. You were wary of omnics to the point of violence when you first joined Overwatch, and am I safe in assuming that is a common mindset?” Roadhog nodded. Amari breathed out slowly, trying to keep her frustration from clouding her judgement. Roadhog always thought if any of their teammates could survive alone out here, it would be her. “Okay. I want to speak to these people myself, perhaps gain an understanding of the current state of affairs here. Lúcio as well, he can get the biotics tabs organized. Right?”

 

Lúcio grinned at her. “Of course, Fareeha! Captain Amari? If this is officially a mission, should we use call signs? Anyway, I helped organize a lot of the humanitarian aid back home in Rio after we kicked out Vishkar, I’m sure I can handle it here.”

 

“Hana and I are the only ones with call signs, Lúcio, I don’t think it matters. Alright, myself, Lúcio…” She rounded on the two Australians. “I’m not too proud to admit I’m out of my depth. Which of you would help more?”

 

“Roadie,” Junkrat said automatically. “I still got a price on m’head, I’d rather not find out if anyone from Junkertown in there today. We’ll get enough of that later.”

 

Amari, ever sensible, didn’t ask questions. The only good firefight was the one that didn’t happen.

 

Roadhog, however, voiced his objections. “Not leaving you.”

 

“Hog.” Junkrat’s voice was sharp.

 

“Just doing my job, boss.”

 

“Roadhog, go to the fuckin’ Springs.”

 

“Can't exactly guard you from there.”

 

“Jesus Christ! Roadie, I'm not alone. There's a fuckin’ dragon wielding samurai here, I will be _fine_.” 

 

They stared at each other for a long moment, neither willing to give ground. 

 

Shimada cleared his throat. “I will protect him, if you are worried. You have my word.”

 

“Hog,” and it was Jamie speaking, not Junkrat. “They're not made to survive here. They need guarded more’n me right now.” He leaned to press a kiss to Roadhog’s sternum. “It's fine.”

 

“S’ not fine,” Roadhog said back. He shoved another pack of biotic pills into Junkrat’s hands. Down enough pills, and they could heal a little. It had saved both their lives before.

 

The three weren't stopped from entering the settlement this time, Lúcio immediately throwing Amari a salute and zipping off on his skates to find someone willing to help distribute the biotic tabs. Roadhog directed Amari to the head of the settlement’s office.

 

Natasha looked up from the rickety table serving as her desk. She had more grey in her short black hair than Roadhog remember, but running a central hub in the Outback was stressful. “Well, well, I heard you’d left Oz, Roadhog, and took that skinny streak of an employer with you.”

 

Amari cleared her throat. “He's currently acting as a guide for myself and my crew, Ms…”

 

“Natasha. You aren't from around here, are you? I've never seen a shiny suit like that before.”

 

Amari glowered under her Raptora helmet. Roadhog couldn't actually see it past the helmet’s “beak”, but he knew the set of her shoulders after fourteen months at Overwatch. “I don't see how that, or my armor, is any business of yours, Ms. Natasha. I am simply here to tell you we came across several dozen crates of anti-radiation biotics, and I was told you would be able to distribute them most efficiently. Beyond that, I am not ashamed to admit that I am unaware of current routes to the Omnium from here, preferably the safest.”

 

Natasha leaned back and observed them. “Safest? I would suggest accompanying our water tanks to Red Cliffs. Junkers don't attack those ones. Red Cliffs is the home of their leader's wife. I'm afraid your guide won't be coming with you, however.”

 

Roadhog moved faster than most thought he was capable of, his scrap gun leveled between Natasha’s eyes almost as soon as the last word left her mouth. 

 

She leaned back in her chair and sighed. “It's a lot of money, Roadhog. I have to pay for the aid we receive from Perth somehow.”

 

“She's dead. There's no one to pay you.” Roadhog fought the temptation to pull the trigger and spray her head across the wall.

 

“Wynne looks good for a dead woman. She was here a few weeks ago.”

 

“Roadhog?” Amari asked. “What does she mean?” 

 

“Wynne put out the original bounty out on Junkrat.” Roadhog snarled. “We have to go. Now.” 

 

Amari whirled and slammed her shoulder into the closed door, snapping the rusted hinges. A gunshot ricocheted off the wall near her head, and Roadhog hauled her, suit and all, into his arms and ran. A bullet lodged somewhere in his side- too low for one of his already weak lungs, keep going- and Amari cursed in a mix of English and her mother tongue. She drew her pistol and peered around Roadhog’s bulk, firing off shots with military precision. 

 

The place they'd left the others was a disaster, littered with bodies and small craters. Song had her Meka planted firmly in front of Shimada and Zenyatta, the omnic’s lights flickering erratically while Shimada tried to dig something out from under his plating. McCree had sheltered behind an outcropping of rock, ducking out to fire. Every shot dropped a Junker.

 

And they were Junkers, not people from the settlement. The untrained eye couldn't always spot the differences, but they were there. 

 

“Fareeha, we could use se air support!” McCree shouted, and Roadhog dropped her, trusting her to land on her feet. She didn't disappoint, landing in a crouch before launching up with thrusters and muscle. The Junker’s cobbled together weapons either didn’t have the range to reach her or the power to break through her armor, and they fell that much faster.

 

Roadhog threw his hook, grabbing one Junker and slamming them into another. One of their homemade explosives went off, and the hook came back with a chunk of charred meat attached. Roadhog scoffed. One of Junkrat’s bombs would never go off like that.

 

Junkrat. 

 

_Where was Junkrat?_

 

“They hit us with no warning!” Song yelled. She sounded distraught. “Shot Zeny with something them swarmed us from all sides. Some of them grabbed Junkrat. He took down three of them with his bare hands before they got him, but we couldn’t get to him to help! I'm sorry, Roadhog.”

 

They had Junkrat. 

 

They had _his_ ‘Rat.

 

But not for much longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHA
> 
> HOPE YOU'RE READY
> 
> Next chapter has been half written in my docs since I posted the first part. I'm _excited_.


	4. Chapter 4

The streaming equipment on Song’s- D.Va’s- Meka( _“Call me Hana or D.Va, Roadhog, only the Korean Army used my surname.”_ ) had captured a tattoo on one of Junkrat’s abductors that Roadhog recognized. The group had a safe house not far from Red Cliffs, and Roadhog was ready to storm the place before Amari talked him down.

“We have wounded, Roadhog, and you're one of them. We'll get him, I promise, but we're no help to him dead.”

So he begrudgingly let the woman dig a bullet out of his side while Shimada begged his forgiveness for letting Junkrat be taken in the first place. 

Once, years ago, he would have shot the cyborg for failing. Now, he just told him “Help me get him back and we're good.”

Lúcio cranked up his Amplifier’s healing setting, letting the music wipe away scrapes and bruises. Roadhog felt the bullet hole start to close. Thankfully, the slug had missed organs, glancing off his bottom rib and embedding in muscle. Hurt like bitch, but it wouldn't have killed him untreated unless infection set in. 

D.Va and Shimada pulled another bullet from Zenyatta’s plating and managed to get his wiring and circuitry patched. He'd need an actual fix when they returned to Gibraltar, but as long as they kept an eye on it, the field patch should hold. 

By that point, it was dark enough Roadhog wouldn't let them go far. He sent them to rest in the truck or nearby and set up to keep watch, keeping one eye on The Springs and the other on the dark. The mines moved in the distance, the scuttling of thousands of tiny, mechanical limbs moving together but just out of sync. They never strayed close enough to be seen, but he knew they were there.

When Jamie first lost his arm and had to learn to use to prosthetic, he practiced motor control by picking up rocks and throwing them at the mines, trying to hit one that would set off a chain reaction. 

Amari settled next to him, free from her Raptora armor, loaded pistol on her hip. Her eyes followed the soft clicking of the moving mines. “What is that?”

“Spider mines. Omniums used them for protection during the Crisis. The one here went on the fritz for a while and started mass producing ‘em. There's minefields scattered all over the Outback, and they move.”

“Gods. Is that how Junkrat…?”

“He lost his leg getting some kid out of their path.”

He could feel Amari’s eyes on him. “You are both… different. When you first showed up at Gibraltar with Junkrat in tow, I was suspicious. I didn't trust you. I'm starting to understand, I think.”

“If anyone can, it's you, Amari.”

“Fareeha,” she said softly. He turned to her. “My name is Fareeha, Roadhog. You are allowed to use it. You saved my life today.”

 _Mako Rutledge_ sat heavy on his tongue, two simple words. 

“You don’t have to tell me yours,” Fareeha continued. She leaned back, trying to catch a glimpse of the stars through polluted sky. “I understand.”

Mako actually believed her.

Fareeha dozed off against his side sometime in the very early morning. Roadhog let her, watching the horizon until the sun rose. He roused his companion at dawn, and she woke the others, passing out water bottles and protein bars from their supplies. Roadhog pushed up his mask enough to eat and swallow down a few anti-rad tabs.

“Alright,” Fareeha said once everyone was ready. “Let's go get our man, and show these Junkers that Overwatch protects their own.”

 

 

Roadhog could move quietly when he needed to, which was the only reason he, Lucio, and Fareeha made it this far into the shitholt these Junkers were calling a hideout. With the rest of their group causing a scene on the other side of the compound, there was only about four Junkers guarding Junkrat, unaware of the three lurking in the shadows.

One Junkers rounded the corner from the space they were keeping Junkrat. “Fuckin’ cunt just keeps mumblin’ ‘Mako’s comin’, Mako’ll get me’.” He spat. “The fuck’s a Mako, anyway?”

Roadhog’s hook was sticking out of his gut a second later, and ‘Hog himself was stepping from the shadows with a growled, “Me.” A jerk of the chain ripped a strangled scream from the Junker, and Roadhog hauled him closer to rip the hook from his flesh. The Junker collapsed, feebly trying to hold his innards inside him. He was as good as dead, though, and Roadhog turned to the other three.

The first was shot full of scrap point blank and dropped. The second managed to fire once or twice before Roadhog’s hook caught her, the embedded nails catching the muscle of her shoulder and tearing. The third managed to get a bullet in ‘Hog’s back before Fareeha shot them between the eyes.

Roadhog dragged the surviving Junker to him and stopped. She was young, barely fifteen if he had to guess, and new enough she didn't have gang’s tattoo. She was swearing and spitting, but Roadhog could see fear in her eyes. 

“Where you from?” Mako asked.

She spat on his mask. Roadhog stared, and she glanced down. “Don't matter. Hammer Flats got hit by mines. Not anyone left. Junkers was my only hope.”

Mako beckoned Lúcio down and pulled the nails of his hook from the girl's shoulder. An explosion sounded in the distance, doubtlessly the work of D.Va or Shimada elsewhere in the compound. 

Lúcio grinned at her. “Let's get you patched up!”

Mako left Lúcio to his work, setting off down the short hall to find Jamie. Neat, military footsteps behind him told him Fareeha had followed. 

“Mako? Isn't that a shark?”

“My family is Māori,” Mako answered. “Was Māori.”

“I will ask later.”

Mako grunted an acknowledgement and shouldered open the only closed door he saw.  
They'd had Jamie for just over a day, and he was a mess already. Face bruised, torso cut and bloody, and his wheezing breaths spoke of broken ribs. 

Mako snapped the handcuffs around Jamie’s narrow wrists and pulled him into his arms. Jamie twitched and started to shake, eyes cracking open. “Mako?”

“‘M here,” Mako said. “You’re safe.”

The shaking eased, even if it didn't stop. “Safe,” he repeated, and passed out.

“We need to find somewhere he can recover,” Fareeha said, tucking Junkrat’s detached prosthetics under one arm. “Do to the two of you have another cache or hideout nearby we can use to regroup and recover?”

“Yeah,” Roadhog answered, carefully lifting Jamie’s unconscious form. “Red Cliffs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is my fave.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the one that shaped the entire plot and direction and tone of this story. It's the point where we first begin to understand why Mako and Jamison ever left Australia.
> 
> You could call it... The Beginning.

Red Cliffs was just as Roadhog remembered it: houses from before the Omnium, farm fields stretching to the south, animal pens of chickens and goats and pigs. It had been made to be a self sustaining community long before the Omnic Crisis. 

Junkrat twitched in Roadhog’s lap, fever flushed skin pressing further into the bigger man’s stomach. The injuries he'd suffered were already infected, and while Zenyatta and Lúcio were capable of treating it, they needed somewhere clean to do it.

So Jamie and Mako were returning home.

A child watched them enter the settlement before he ran for the fields. Mako let him go, leading his team into one of the homes. Jamie was lowered onto a tattered couch, and the healers go to work, cleaning cuts and checking the extent of the breakage of Jamie’s ribs. 

The door to the house opened again. “Mako Rutledge, what did you do?”

Mako turned to look at the woman silhouetted in the threshold. Same brilliant orange eyes, same grey-streaked hair. “Ma’am.”

Jezebel Fawkes glared. “No mask in my home, Rutledge. You're Mako or you're not in my settlement. Where's my son?”

Mako unbuckled the straps of his mask. “It's alright, Amari, Jezebel is a friend.”

“I'm your mother-in-law, Rutledge,” Jezebel said. “Answer my question. Where is my son?”

Mako gestured to the couch, and Jezebel shoved past McCree to see. She gasped and fell to her knees, and Lúcio shuffled to the side so she could grab Jamie’s hand. “What happened, Mako?”

Mako sat heavily on the floor, one hand reaching to rub at his face. He felt the ridges of familiar scar tissue under his fingers. “Wynne is still alive.”

Jezebel swore under her breath. “Of course she is. Neither of us can leave our mistakes behind us, can we?” She finally took in the rest of the room. “Who are your friends, Rutledge?”

“You remember Overwatch?”

Laughter shook her shoulders. “You left Oz and became heroes.”

“We ain't heroes yet, Ms. Jezebel.” McCree tipped his hat, but his voice was subdued. They were all exhausted and shaken. “Overwatch is technically illegal right now.”

“Either Jez or Jezzy. The only person calls me Miss is Mako, isn't that right?”

“Yes, Ms. Fawkes,” Mako answered immediately. 

D.Va chuckled tiredly in the corner. “Hog is scared of you, Jez. I'm D.Va.”

“Ta,” Jezebel replied.

Fareeha rubbed exhaustion from her eyes. “We’re sorry to intrude, Ms. Jezebel. Mako said this was a good place to rest and regroup.”

“Red Cliffs is one of the few settlements the Junkers won't enter. I made sure of that.” Jezebel ran her thumb over Jamie’s knuckles. “My son and any of his friends are safe here.”

“So he is your son.” Genji slipped from his hiding place in the shadows, and Jezebel’s hand dropped to the firearm at her hip. “Ah, my apologies. I am Shimada Genji.” He bowed.

Jezebel glanced at Mako. “Two Oms?” She used the hand not holding her son to gesture at Shimada, then Zenyatta. 

“Shimada’s a cyborg.”

Jamie’s face scrunched. “Mum?” The words were thick with confusion and pain.

“Right here, Jamie,” Jezebel soothed. “You're safe.” 

Zenyatta set a hand gently on Jamie’s chest. “Please stay down, Junkrat. Your ribs are fractured, and I have not had the chance to heal them.”

Jamie immediately tried to take a deep breath, and choked out a noise of pain. Mako tensed. Jamie had trusted that his mask would be tucked against his face, supplying hogdrogen to heal and numb, without hesitation. 

One of Zenyatta’s glowing orbs winked into existence, dulling pain. A tense moment passed, and Jamie settled.

“Mako Rutledge and Jamie Fawkes?” It was Fareeha that spoke, obviously desperate for a distraction. 

“Jamison,” Jezebel corrected. “After my grandfather.”

“We were talking about how to tell you,” Mako added. He needed the distraction, too. “At first we didn't trust you, then no time seemed right.”

“With Junkers, using real names is a display of enormous trust,” Jezebel explained. “Not something done lightly.”

Shimada nodded. He likely understood best: his culture was slightly similar. 

“I never had the chance to ask,” Fareeha started a moment later. “Who is Wynne?”

Both Mako and Jezebel glanced at Jamie, then each other. Finally, the woman sighed. 

“Wynne Minett is the closest thing the Junkers have to a leader. She keeps all the different factions in check, organizes material shipments from the Omnium to the rest of the Outback, and handles recruitment. She's the one who put the bounty on my son.” Jezebel brushed blond hair away from Jamie’s closed eyes. “She's also my wife.”

Jamie’s hand tightened around his mother’s. “Not your fault, mum.”

“She helped me raise you,” Jezebel whispered. “She watched you grow up, and she tried to kill you. How did I ever trust her?”

“How did you?” Zenyatta prompted, but there was no judgement in his tone. Shimada huffed in tired amusement. 

Jezebel shot Mako a pleading look. She'd told him the story once, years ago, while the two stood vigil over this same couch, waiting to see if Jamison would survive the loss of arm. She'd been drunk beyond reason on questionable moonshine, eyes hollow and lost.

Mako snatched McCree’s flask from the sharpshooter’s belt and handed it to her. McCree made a noise of protest, but let the woman open it and drink.

“I've made better whiskey in a tractor engine,” Jezebel muttered, and took another pull. “I can't, Mako. I can't tell it again.”

“Jezzy,” Mako said. She nodded. “You sure?” Another nod.

“Do you trust them?” She pinned him with sharp orange eyes.

Did he? Did he trust them with, not just his life, not just Jamie’s life, but with the things that shaped the two of them?

“Yes.”

Jezebel pressed a soft kiss to her son’s knuckles and stood. “I'll find my tools so I can work on fixing Jamie’s arm, and get some water for everyone.” 

“Mako?” Jamie rasped. “The beginning. Same as you told me.”

“The beginning,” Mako echoed. 

They deserved to know everything. Mako trusted them with it.

Even the beginning.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All stories start somewhere.
> 
> I made myself cry with this, so I'm sorry.

A lifetime ago, Mako was in in a garage, hands streaked with grease as he tinkered with his motorcycle. Quiet footsteps approached.

“Taking care of your other pig?”

“I regret ever telling you the slang for motorcycle,” Mako deadpanned, and Tahia giggled.

“You could say,” she started slyly, and Mako groaned, preparing for one of her abominable puns, “it’s a road hog.”

“I hope I never hear those two words said together ever again,” but he twisted around to smile at his wife. “How's your work going?”

Her dark eyes lit. “Amazing! Overwatch’s medical division lent me their research on reconstructive nanites. I think I've nearly figured out a way to deliver it through inhalation, rather than the pill form used as humanitarian aid, which should make it act faster and more effectively.” She grinned. “Would definitely work better than your inhaler.”

Mako huffed out a laugh. A dog barked in the distance, and he straightened. 

“She's back,” Tahia muttered. “How many times do you have to tell her no?”

“She's persistent.” Mako sighed and grabbed a rag to wipe oil from his hands. 

The dog was at the end of the gravel driveway leading into the Rutledge farm, blocking a middle-aged woman from entering. 

“Can I help you?” Mako deadpanned.

Wynne Minett smiled politely. “Mister Rutledge. Would you mind calling off your dog?”

“Yes. We told you to leave us alone, Minett.”

“You fought in the Omnic Crisis, Mako, you have experience with these things!”

“Yes, I do,” Mako said. “The Crisis is over, Minett. If you want to find some way to assert your superiority over the omnics, you’ll have to do it without me.”

Wynne bristled, but the expression was gone a second later. “Fine. You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

“Don’t plan on it.” Tahia leaned her shoulder into Mako’s arm, glaring. She cut an impressive figure, with her dark hair still pulled back from her experiments and the gnarled burn scar along her jaw. 

_"You were married?” Fareeha asked, accepting a canteen from Jezebel._

_Mako nodded. “Tahia was a chemist. I’ll never be at her level, but I picked up a few things from her notes, and she used me as a sounding board for a lot of her ideas.”_

_"Was?" That was D.Va. The pink tattoos on her cheeks were covered in dirt._

_"Was.”_

There was smoke coming from the farm.

Mako rolled his eyes with a smile. He’d peeked into Tahia’s lab before he left, but she’d waved him off, muttering something about hydrogen therapy. She’d probably set something on fire again. He was already running estimates on how much it would cost to rebuild her lab when the road curved for the last time and he could see the farm.

The barn was burning.

It took a moment for him to register it. The barn was burning, and Tahia was focused, but even she would notice that, and if she wasn’t trying to stop it…

Mako let his bike drop, hearing a crunch as the chassis landed on the gravel, and ran. Her lab was a free standing building forty meters behind the house, with an independant solar generator and equipment Tahia herself had designed. He shoved the door open, praying she was just caught up in her work.

Her body was slumped over her desk, blood pooling across the top and on the floor. She’d been shot twice in the back. 

Part of him shut down, unable to process what he was seeing, and logic took over. Tahia would want her notes saved. Overwatch had been funding her research, and they would want any progress she’d made. Numbly, he gathered up handwritten notes.

There was a doodle of Mako’s pig tattoo in the corner of on page, with _”hog” drogen :D_ written next to it.

Mako staggered back like he’d been hit and tripped, falling to the tile. The dog lay sprawled, eyes glassy and glazed. The angle of his neck was unnatural, and his jaws were bloody.

There were wires caught between his teeth, and something in Mako went cold.

 

 

Wynne Minett looked up as the door to her office slammed open. Mako Rutledge stood in the doorway, face blank.

“I’m in,” he said.

“Of course,” she answered, discreetly tugging down her sleeve before he could notice the bandages covering several dog bites. “We are, technically, illegal, so I’ll need a codename for my files.”

“Roadhog.”

Her lips curved into a dangerous smile. “Welcome to the Australian Liberation Front, Roadhog.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "But Nile," you say, "if Mako is telling the story, how does he know about Jamie's part?"
> 
> "Shhhh" I say loudly, covering my ears.

_Caring got you killed._

Jamison’s mother told him that when he joined her band of scavengers rifling through the remains of the Omnium. He was twelve, small enough still to wiggle into spots the adults couldn't. 

His mum said something different: _Caring makes you human._

That was the first time he'd ever heard his mothers fight.

Years later, he found the Heart of the Omnium, the God Program ticking away in circuits and wires, and all hell broke loose. 

 

Junkrat was not what Roadhog expected. Wynne had contacted him for the first time since the Omnium had blown, sending him after a Junker that had found… something big. She hadn’t said much more, just that he had refused to turn it over and she needed him brought back.

It took three weeks to track him down. The Rat was hunkered in a crack in a cliff face, only showing his face to lob homemade explosives at the other Junkers trying to shoot him.

Guns silenced as Roadhog stepped off his bike, a few of the Junkers cursing. An Enforcer was here, they weren’t getting the bounty. The Rat peered cautiously out of his hideout and ducked quickly back in. No matter. Roadhog could outwait him.

The Rat wasn’t going to wait. He took twenty minutes to break down his bombs and build a concussion mine and blew the cliff the fuck up. His little cave protected him from the resulting rockslide, and by the time Roadhog dug himself out, the Rat was long gone.

The ensuing game and cat and mouse wound through the Outback until finally coming to a head in the settlement of Red Cliffs. The nails of Roadhog’s hook had just bitten into the meat of the Rat’s thigh when three gunshots rang out and three bullets thudded into Roadhog’s shoulder and back. A fourth drove through his knee, a fifth in the opposite ankle, and finally he dropped, scrabbling for a canister of hogdrogen(the name didn’t hurt, it had only ever hurt Mako, and Mako was dead).

A bootheel slammed against the back of his head before he did more than touch the metal of the canister.

 

He woke, and that in and of itself surprised him. If someone cared enough about the Rat to shoot him, surely Roadhog should be dead. Why wasn’t he dead?

No time for that now. He took stock: no hook, no gun. Expected. His wounds were bandaged- he could feel the scrape a gauze over his skin ( _How did he keep doing this, she wanted to know, wrapping gauze over another burn as he shrugged sheepishly-_ )

No mask. He tried to sit up, stilling when pain laced red hot from everywhere.

“Oh good, you didn’t die.”

Roadhog swung his head around to look. The woman behind him didn’t look up from where she was poking at what appeared to be a moonshine still. The Rat was next to her with an armful of tools, shifting foot to foot and throwing panicked glances at Roadhog. Roadhog caught his gaze and held it.

“Oh for fuck’s- go put those away,” the woman said, giving the Rat a shove towards the door. She watched him leave before rounding on Roadhog. “Alright, you’re gonna answer some questions and maybe I won’t shoot you again. Who sent you after Junkrat?”

Roadhog glared at her.

“Good lord,” she sighed. “Look, I just want to know who to tell Wynne she needs bail up.”

“She’s the one paying bounty.”

It was like snuffing out a candle. The fight and fire drained from her, her shoulders slumping. “I’d hoped they were lying. I’d hoped he was _wrong_. Fuck!” The shout was sudden enough Roadhog nearly jumped. “Fuck,” and she buried her face in her hands. “He’s her son, how could she do this?”

Roadhog tried to pretend part of him didn’t feel sick at those words.

After a few minutes, she pulled herself together, tucked her hair behind her ears, and stared at him with eyes glittering with unshed tears. “Whatever she’s paying you, I’ll match it, just… Leave him alone. Junkrat can hold his own, but you’re an Enforcer.” 

Roadhog still isn’t sure why he said “Match it and I’ll guard him.”

 

Years later, Jezebel Fawkes dropped a hand on Mako Rutledge’s shoulder and said, “Whatever reason, I’m glad you did. I would have hated to shoot you again.”

“Now we know why he’s scared ‘a you,” McCree tried to joke, but it fell flat. “Shit. What doesn’t add up is that this woman is alive. You didn’t seem like the forgivin’ type, R- Mako.”

“Thought I killed her,” was the answer. “Left her bleeding out in the Junkertown streets. If the blood loss didn’t kill her, infection should have. But Natasha said she’d been there at The Springs, and the bounty on Jamison’s head is still active, so there’s someone to pay it.”

“So what do we do?” Lúcio asked. “Talon is still here, we still need to get to Omnium, and we need you to do it.”

“Mech,” Jamie rasped from the couch.

“Of course,” Jezebel said. “You gain entrance to the Omnium like any other Junker. You win a mech battle in Junkertown.”

D.Va made a soft, ecstatic sound. “Oh, I can do that.”

“We have a plan,” Fareeha said.

“We have 14% of a plan,” Genji interrupted.

“ _We have a plan_ , but Junkrat, er, Jamie isn’t ready to move yet. Ms. Jezebel, would you allow us to stay here until-”

“I’m insulted you had to ask,” Jezebel cut her off. “You saved my son, you are always welcome.” She handed the flask Mako had swiped from McCree back to its owner. “I don’t have much in the way of beds, but there’s clean drinking water and roof over your heads, and all the generators are solar powered so the lights should be steady for a few more hours.”

“Jez, get some rest,” Mako muttered. “I’ll keep night watch.”

That was familiar, a setup they’d had twice before. “Alright,” she said. “Eyes won’t focus much longer anyway.” She pressed a kiss to Jamie’s forehead and shuffled back into her bedroom.

D.Va scooted across the floor to lean against Mako’s side. “You should sleep, too. Zenyatta and Lu will take care of Jamie. And tomorrow, we can all talk, okay?” And with that, she snuggled into him, her steady breathing lulling him to sleep.


End file.
